


A Different Taste

by MoonsCry



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-15 22:05:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10558438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonsCry/pseuds/MoonsCry
Summary: The Crown Prince and his Crownsguard live their busy lives, yet they manage to make time for a new arrival.  But who is she?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Don't get me wrong, I love this game quite a lot! (Hence the non-con...). It's because I like this game so much that I decided to create this work that creates a new character. I definitely plan on making this a few chapters long, and if you guys enjoy it, please let me know!

"Hey, Iggy, your cooking's as good as always."

"Come now, Gladio, it's nothing special."

"Nothing special? It's the best cooking in all of Lucis!"

"Prompto, you're being generous."

"They're right, Ignis; your cooking is amazing."

"You flatter me, Noct."

All four young men laughed heartily as Ignis stood from the camp chairs, moving around the campfire and collecting everyone's empty plates. He moved towards the nearby stream and crouched, setting the plates down on the ground next to him before slowly tugging off his driver's gloves and pocketing them. He then dipped a couple of fingers into the stream and sighed contently, enjoying the feeling of the cool water running over his dry and cracked skin. "What a relief," he muttered, letting his eyes close as the cool water eased his aches. "We've been out for so long, I don't think my skin has ever been this damaged in... forever." Ignis continued to let his fingers cool in the water for another minute before re-opening his eyes and taking up one of the plates in his hold, examining it in the pale moonlight before putting it under the flow of the water and letting the residue wash off. He repeated this with the other three plates before deciding that it was good enough. He stood and let out another long sigh and looked up at the moon, pleased to find that it was full. "At least I'll be able to find my way back."

Not that he had gone very far; the stream was maybe a minute's walk away from the campsite, and when Ignis returned, he found Gladio holding Prompto in a headlock while Noctis took pictures and cheered them on.

"Come on, Prompto!"

"Dude, do you see the size of our big guy here?! There's no way!"

"At least you know when you're fighting a losing battle."

"Now, now, boys, must we?" Ignis said, although he couldn't care less if the three acted childish during the nights they had to rest.

"Daddy Ignis is back to break it up. What a shame I didn't get to actually pin you down." Gladio teased, releasing Prompto and pushing him towards Noctis, who caught his friend and held him upright while Prompto regained his balance.

"One of these days, Gladio, you're going to injure Prompto," Ignis scolded, moving over to his pack and pulling out a dish towel, using it to individually dry off the plates before carefully placing them within the pack, followed by the now slightly damp dish towel. "Of course, there's nothing out there that won't injure Prompto. He tripped on nothing on the way up and scrapped his knee. How is that, by the way?"

"I didn't trip on nothing, there was a small rock!" Prompto whined, making his way over to Ignis and pulling up his left pant leg, showing the part of his knee that he had managed to scrape in his fall. "It's looking better now."

"Indeed," Ignis said quietly, patting Prompto on the shoulder and moving past him to collapse into a camp chair once again, glancing around at the rest of the party.

"Long day, Iggy?" Gladio asked casually, also sitting down and leaning forward, putting his hands out towards the fire to warm them. He already knew the answer, but the slightly frustrated look that grew on Ignis's face gave him the response he was hoping for.

"No, Gladio, not long at all. All we did was escape an attack by the Empire, take down a couple of Necromancers, and aid Takka in his quest for... rather intriguing ingredients."

"Easy there, Ignis. I don't know if the big guy can handle all of that sarcasm," Prompto joked, standing behind Gladio's chair with his arms crossed.

Just then, Prompto's phone buzzed in his pocket, causing him to jump slightly, but he decided to ignore it.

"Prompto?" Noctis asked, raising an eyebrow at his best friend. "You okay, buddy?"

"Huh? Yeah. Phone went off, that's all. Startled me."

"Does it require your attention, Prompto?" Ignis inquired, pulling out his own phone to check it.

"Probably not," Prompto responded, although at that moment, his phone buzzed again. His hand dropped to his pocket over his phone, sighing. "I really doubt it's important."

"You should check it just in case," Gladio said, leaning back in his chair and glancing over his shoulder at Prompto.

"Fine..." Prompto said quietly, moving his hand into his pocket and pulling out his phone. The screen lit up and he saw the two notifications, his heart skipping as he read the name. He unlocked his phone and opened up his messages, opening the two new ones and reading them to himself.

"Hey Prompto! I know you're off adventuring with your friends, and you're all probably super busy, but I'm currently in Duscae and I'll be here for a while! It's not every day I can get out of Niflheim (and actually, we're moving to Lestallum soon!) and I was hoping to see you. Can you guys meet me at the Wiz Chocobo Post tomorrow? I'd love to meet your friends! Hope to see you soon! - Temp"

Prompto locked his phone and slid it back into his pocket, moving around Gladio's chair to a vacant one and slowly dropping into it, staring into the fire. _Tempestas..._

"Prompto? Prompto!" Noctis's voice pulled Prompto back to reality with a jolt, causing the young man to look up at Noctis with surprise.

"Y-yeah?"

"What's going on? You seem... almost bummed out."

"Oh! Nothing, nothing. I just... have a friend from Niflheim coming to Lucis and she wants to meet up with me and meet you guys."

"Interesting," Ignis said quietly from his chair, glancing over at Prompto with a rather curious look in his eyes. "A friend from Niflheim, you say? I wasn't aware you still had contact with anyone from there."

"This could very well be a trap," Gladio said, quickly continuing when he noticed that Prompto's mouth had dropped open in disbelief. "Think about it: we're currently trying to hide from the Empire while doing jobs for people, along with hunts and other things. Niflheim is home to the Empire, or what's left of it, and it's almost coincidental that this would happen now, of all times."

"I'm from Niflheim, Gladio. Not everyone there is as twisted as those who serve the Empire. There are some good people, including... including Temp."

"Temp?"

"She's... forget it. It's not important."

"Whatever you say, Prompto." Ignis eventually said, glancing up towards the night sky and noticing the position of the moon. "Moon's getting high. Perhaps it is best for us to turn in for the night so that we can set out in the morning in a timely manner."

There were no complaints from anyone. Noctis was the first to turn in, stretching and heading straight for the tent to get the room that he could within. Gladio was next, standing and cracking each of his knuckles as he walked towards the tent, settling himself down on the opposite side of Noct. Ignis, too, slowly stood, but made his way over to Prompto and held out his hand, giving the younger man a small smile in the process. "Come now, Prompto. I'm certain things will go well. Where shall we be meeting your friend come morning?"

"The Wiz Chocobo Post. It's not too far from here." Prompto replied, accepting Ignis's hand and using the man's added strength to get out of the chair. They walked towards the tent together, Ignis letting Prompto go first, then following and zipping the tent closed.

"Sleep well, Prompto."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sky overheard quickly darkened, storm clouds forming together to block out the sun. The thunder overhead was louder than before as the sky broke, rain pouring down in sheets upon the four. Their clothes were quickly soaked as they attempted to pull through the storm, wind gusts strong enough to knock over trees pushing them backwards time and time again. The ground beneath their feet became soft and malleable far too quickly, causing their feet to sink into the fast-forming mud.

"We're close!" Noctis called, his voice almost carried away by the wind. "Just a little farther!"

"We won't make it much farther in this weather, Noct!" Prompto cried out, his jacket whipping behind him in the gusts. He lost his footing and was pushed over backwards, causing him to cry out. He expected to land on the soft ground, but instead, he kept falling backwards.

_Down, down, down..._

He eventually came into contact with water, knocking the breath out of him as he sank deeper and deeper. Breathing in would surely kill him, yet he found he could barely ignore the burning sensation quickly building within his lungs. Convulsions overtook his body as Prompto fought off the urge to inhale, instead focusing on looking around him to see where underwater he was. In front of him was open water, yet, in the distance, there was a human form. The form was extremely feminine, the soaked clothing hanging to the form and exaggerating the features. He knew he had seen that form before, and he knew, somehow, that he needed to go to her aid, but how he would get there was unknown. His limbs were quickly becoming heavy and it was becoming difficult to focus as he slowly suffocated himself.

"Prompto..." A soft voice called out, feminine and extremely clear. The source of the voice was from in front of him, almost certainly from the unconscious form before him, but it sounded too clear. "Prompto..."

Prompto reached the form, and his heart dropped; before him was Tempestas. Her skin was pale, her hair billowing around her in the water. He reached out to her to pull her closer to him, but his arms failed him.

"Prompto..." The voice said again.

 _I'm here,_ he wanted to say, but his voice failed him. _I'm right here..._

He finally gave in to the urge to inhale, taking in a lungful of water, only causing the burning pain to become worse, but he couldn't let go... not yet. Not when Temp needed his help.

"Prompto!" Another voice suddenly yelled, snapping him out of his nightmare. Prompto shot up into a sitting position and began gasping, his eyes wide in fear as he glanced around in an attempt to gain his bearings, although his vision was blurry and very slowly clearing up. She wasn't here... none of it was real. It hadn't happened... Temp was okay.

"Back up, Gladio," Ignis's voice said from Prompto's right. "Back up!"

There was shuffling beside him and he guessed that Gladio had been rather close as there was a sudden coolness behind his shoulder. The burning feeling in Prompto's chest wasn't going away, and he felt as if there were gallons of water trapped in his lungs. He suddenly felt a wave of nausea and leaned forward even farther, retching. Nothing came up. He was trembling now, and he felt as if he had been dunked into an ice bath.

"Get the blanket, Noctis. Gladio, go put a bit of water on the fire, and when it's warm, fill that water bottle and bring it here. Quickly!" Ignis commanded the two, both of which moved quickly to obey. Noctis moved to grab an extra blanket while Gladio stepped out of the tent with the full water bottle, going to put the water on the fire. Meanwhile, Ignis moved a little closer to Prompto's side, crouching beside him. In response, Prompto gave a shuddering gasp before retching again and, once more, nothing came up. "Prompto?"

Prompto sat there, completely bent forward and still gasping as if he had truly experienced suffocation. His lungs slowly stopped burning soon after Noctis draped the blanket over him with Ignis sitting there as a father would for a sick child.

"Thank you, Noct. Please, make sure Gladio hasn't managed to burn the water." Ignis said quietly, resting his hand now on Prompto's shoulder. Noctis silently removed himself from the tent to check on Gladio.

Prompto retched one final time, the spasm causing a bit of bile to come up. Ignis reached behind himself and grabbed his pack, taking out a small bowl and putting it in front of Prompto, who promptly spat the bile out.

"Better let it out," Ignis said softly, making sure to keep his voice down in case Prompto reacted negatively to sounds. "What happened, Prompto? You were convulsing pretty badly there for a while, and it looked like you stopped breathing about twenty seconds before we managed to wake you."

"I... I had this nightmare..." Prompto started, going into detail about the storm that whipped up out of nowhere, talking about how he had fallen backwards into nothingness, then water, and how he had seen Temp and how he tried to pull her out of the water, but he himself was about to drown.

"I see. I've never heard of anyone's physical body having the same reactions as one's dream state. I'm just glad we managed to wake you in time."

"I heard you guys," Prompto said sheepishly, surprising Ignis. "A bit before I woke up... but whoever was calling my name, their voice sounded feminine, almost like it was a cry for help..."

"Perhaps your mind twisted the voice because you had seen Temp, and it was her voice you wanted to hear instead of Gladio's." Ignis attempted to reason.

"Ha... don't tell the big guy..."

"Don't tell the big guy what?" came the familiar growl as Gladio re-entered the tent with the warm water bottle. "Here," he said, handing it to Ignis, who simply opened it and grabbed the dish towel out of his pack, pouring a bit of the water onto the cloth.

"Sit up, Prompto," Ignis said calmly, waiting for Prompto to regain himself and sit up. Once he did, Ignis placed the warm cloth against Prompto's forehead, placing his other hand on Prompto's chest and gently pushing the younger man backwards into a laying position. He then handed Gladio the small bowl, which Gladio took as a request to leave the tent again, and he did.

"Just lay here for a moment, Prompto. Rest just a little longer. We need to pack, but we won't leave until you feel ready."

With that, Ignis rose and quietly left the tent, leaving Prompto to recover. At that moment, his phone buzzed from the corner of the tent, but he knew he couldn't sit up to reach it.

_Damn it... what's happening to me? I don't understand why that dream did this to me..._

It felt like an eternity had passed before the tent flaps were pulled aside and Ignis returned, not at all surprised that Prompto had remained on his back.

"How are we feeling?" Ignis asked, standing in the opening to the tent to block out most of the light.

"Better," Prompto replied after thinking for a couple of seconds, staring at Ignis.

"We've all packed. We do need to get going if we're going to make it to the Chocobo post by noon, though. Are you feeling up to it?

"Yeah... yeah, I think I can make it. It's not too far."

Ignis moved into the tent and held out a hand to help Prompto up. The younger man took the hand and sat up slowly, eventually pulling himself to his feet. He then leaned over to retrieve his phone from the corner of the tent, and upon unlocking it, noticed that he had another message.

"Hey, Ignis, Temp sent me something. Look at this."

Prompto held out his phone and Ignis carefully took it, peering at the screen, his eyebrows visibly rising.

On the screen was a picture of a young woman with Chocobo blonde hair. Her eyes shone bright blue in the early morning sunlight, and she had on the smile of a genuinely care-free person. The picture had been taken by someone else, obvious by the fact that the woman was currently mounted on a Chocobo, its feathers not actually the typical yellow. Instead, its feathers were black and somewhat shiny. Around its neck was a chain necklace with a small skull dangling from the end of it. The young woman wore a matching necklace, which hung over a tight black tank top covered mostly by a black leather vest.

"She resembles you, Prompto," Ignis remarked, handing the phone back to Prompto.

"Probably because she's my sister," Prompto said quietly, pocketing his phone and looking up at Ignis, seeing the surprise. "What? Couldn't guess?"

"I had a hunch."

"Well, Mr. Hunch, you're blocking the way out."

Ignis scoffed and moved back out of the tent, Prompto following behind. Gladio was standing nearby, and immediately went to take down the tent and pack it up. Once finished, the three moved out of the campground and towards the nearby road. The Regalia came into view, as did Noctis, who was leaning against the hood of the vehicle.

"Took you guys long enough. I was beginning to wonder if I'd have to go on my own."

"Now, Noct, you know that would be unreasonable," Ignis said, moving to the driver's side door and unlocking it, opening it and unlocking the other doors with the press of a button. "Besides, you don't usually carry the keys."

"Smartass," Noctis replied, sliding into the backseat by Gladio. Prompto slid into the passenger seat, and when all of the doors were shut, Ignis started the engine and lowered the roof.

"One of us has to be."

Ignis drove carefully, as he usually did, once stopping to let a small herd of Spiracorns cross the road.

"Magnificent beasts, Spiracorns." Gladio said, watching them.

"Indeed," Ignis agreed.

However, Ignis's mind was starting to wander. He began to think about Tempestas again, imagining in his mind how she had been smiling, a genuinely happy woman. _Who knew someone from Niflheim could be so..._

What they could be, he never found the word for, for Gladio was yelling at Ignis to gain his attention.

"Hey, Iggy! You falling asleep up there? You missed the turn!"

"I didn't know someone could miss a giant flashy sign that literally had the words "Wiz Chocobo Post" and a giant arrow on it..." Noctis said quietly from behind Ignis.

"Terribly sorry."

Ignis waited for a car to go by in the opposite lane before performing a perfect u-turn, returning to his missed turn and this time taking it, sending the Regalia down the bumpy dirt road.

"Look at all of the chocobos!" Prompto exclaimed, leaning over the side of the door and pointing enthusiastically.

"Yes, we can see the birds," Gladio said in his gruff voice, and although he didn't show it, he, too, loved the large bird.

Ignis pulled over into the parking area and killed the engine, opening his door and looking up at the sky. "Beautiful day."

"As long as it doesn't start pouring," Noctis muttered.

Prompto cringed as he remembered his nightmare, but held his composure as he looked around. "She should be around here somewhere."

The four moved away from the Regalia and moved towards the owner, requesting a table and some menus, seeing as they had yet to eat that day. They placed their orders and waited, looking around the post. A couple of Chocobo chicks were walking around freely, squaking at the group while Prompto stuck out his hand. One of them pecked him and he laughed, putting his finger in his mouth and sucking on it.

About ten minutes passed before there were the sounds of running chocobos. Prompto turned in his chair to look behind him and saw a group of rogue chocobos flooding into the post.

"Well, I'll be," The voice of the owner came from behind them, a voice of amazement. "She managed to bring them back, after all."

"Who?"

"Heeeyyyy!"


End file.
